The pressures on restaurant operators have never been greater, between a tight labor market, supply chain challenges and ever-evolving consumer expectations. These are just a few of the issues that are putting pressures on profit margins and causing operators to reevaluate their priorities and strategy. Consumers now expect to interact with their favorite restaurant brands through multiple channels, and for both on- and off-premises eating occasions. Drive-thru, curbside pickup and delivery are all important conveniences to consumers, as well as digital ordering capabilities.
Today’s resources and consumer demand do not support the idea of “business as usual”—that is, operators are expected to manage more channels with fewer resources, so leaning on agile technology to boost operator efficiency is key to success in this evolving environment. Keeping these channels organized can be a challenge if restaurants don’t have the right platform in place.
For example, The Halal Guys, which began life as a wildly popular food cart in New York City and expanded into brick-and-mortar restaurants, needed a solution that not only provided a unified POS platform across channels, but also facilitated the integration of online ordering and pickup, as well as third-party delivery.
The Halal Guys management team decided to adopt a cloud-native POS solution, which provides the ability for the company to scale its operations while also providing a seamless experience across channels. The company rolled the solution out to 60 locations in only three months, thanks to the platform’s user-friendly interface, easy menu programming, and low cost of implementation.
“The most beneficial feature is that the whole system is cloud-based, which means our franchisees and corporate development team can access data from anywhere, allowing us to oversee and troubleshoot inventory, [employee management], sales reporting and much more,” said Margaret Carrera, chief development officer, The Halal Guys.
In today’s environment, restaurant operators are also looking for solutions that minimize labor hours without sacrificing the customer experience. That’s what led Rise Southern Biscuits and Righteous Chicken (Rise for short) to implement a technology-driven, waitstaff-free solution powered by self-service kiosks.
The solution, along with a traditional POS and kitchen display system, increased efficiency significantly, said Ken Priest, chief financial officer and co-owner of Rise. He shared that this technology positioned the brand well for when the pandemic led many customers to prefer contactless ordering.
"Our goal was to get as automated as possible in our realm, and that meant embracing as much technology as we could," explained Priest.
In addition to adding efficiencies in both the front and back of the house, technology can also help restaurant operators navigate the supply chain challenges that are plaguing the industry. Ordering inventory is always a challenge, but it’s become even more so amid delays in shipments, incomplete orders, missed deliveries and lingering repercussions of the pandemic and other crises around the globe.
With POS inventory management systems in place, operators can track their inventory, down to the ingredient level, in real time to facilitate the ordering process. These solutions update inventory counts, send automated stock alerts and send purchase orders, proving time savings and helping to ensure optimal stock levels.
Looking ahead, inventory and labor challenges are expected to remain front and center for operators.
A centralized platform is mission-critical to integrate new technology, and help front and back of house operate more efficiently, without sacrificing customer satisfaction.
Revel Enterprise® provides the leading cloud-native POS platform and business management solutions for enterprise restaurant chains. With an all-in-one platform and open API, you can quickly scale and pivot alongside your business needs now and in the future. Revel’s unrivaled ease-of-use creates greater restaurant experiences for your employees and customers alike. For more information visit RevelSystems.com
This post is sponsored by Revel Systems